Pause.
In times of uncertainty and change it is vital to stop. To find stillness. To breathe.
One of the biggest challenges with lockdown is that the lines are being blurred. When does the space you’re sitting in switch from being your office to your kitchen, your bedroom or your lounge? When are you at work and when are your relaxing? When do you have time for thinking between the zoom calls and the home schooling?
It’s easy to get onto the hamster wheel.
This is just as much a “note to self” as it is a reminder to you.
We know this stuff. But sometimes we fail to act.
You can’t lead if you’re always doing. You can’t connect if you don’t have space to let people in. You have to seek out perspective. You have to find a socially distanced vantage point on the top of your metaphorical hill. If you don’t, then when all of this is over you’ll still be where you are.
There’s a lot of pain and panic right now. And understandably so. We’re not in control of things in the same way as we were before. But that doesn’t mean we have to stop dreaming. It’s doesn’t mean we have to settle. It doesn’t mean we have to stand still. There is freedom in constraint. There is opportunity in adversity. You and I have the power to do great things. The question: Are we willing to take the first step?
That first step is to create space. To make time to answer the question “what do you want?”. To get clear on your intention. You don’t need all the answers or the roadmap just yet. Just a rough idea of the big question you want to answer or the destination you want to arrive at.
Once your intention is clear, make space to sit with it. Carve out time before phone calls and meetings. Take it for a walk over lunch. Give it room to develop.
The more you stop over the weeks and months to come, the greater your capacity will be to deal with the challenges you encounter. That doesn’t mean you have to be selfish or insular. Show up for you teams. Show up for your customers. Show up for your family and friends. In this time of “virtual” we still need “human”.
But most importantly of all show up for your self. And pause.